Chapter 362 - 363: Pay Your Respects to the God-Tier Helmsman Before You Go

Chapter 362: Chapter 363: Pay Your Respects to the God-Tier Helmsman Before You Go

The Archangel was getting closer and closer to Earth.

But things were also becoming more dangerous.

After leaving the Debris Belt, there were not many asteroids left that could provide cover for the Archangel.

If ZAFT appeared now, things would be bad.

"What exactly should we do after returning to Alaska Headquarters? Admiral Halberton’s situation probably isn’t looking too good either." Mu sat in a recliner on the temporary bridge, thinking.

"Come to think of it, does Colonel Sutherland really have the authority to give orders to the Archangel?" Badgiruel suddenly brought up an important point.

"Now that you mention it... I remember the Fyu-Neru units have recording functions, right?" Murrue’s eyes lit up too. "The Archangel is property of the Eighth Fleet. As long as Admiral Halberton is still there, there is no way he would allow the Archangel to be taken away."

"So Colonel Sutherland was actually using Blue Cosmos’s influence to act first and report later. Once it became an established fact, Admiral Halberton would have had no choice but to swallow the loss." Mu suddenly understood as well.

"But now their plan has failed!"

Murrue grew excited.

The enemy’s plan had failed!

Blue Cosmos might also be part of the "Earth Alliance," but judging by what had happened, they were certainly not allies.

"And now that they failed, the evidence itself... can also be used by us!"

Trying to seize an allied warship!

That alone was enough to land them in serious trouble.

"And if Songstress-san’s information was accurate, we have quite a lot of dirt in our hands."

Mu grinned.

"Indeed." Murrue thought it over.

The Doolittle had privately confined and controlled the Archangel’s crew and had even tried to dispose of Kira. Murrue had witnessed all of it.

Dirt!

It was all incriminating dirt!

As long as they brought it back to Earth, forget avoiding a court-martial—maybe they could even wipe out Blue Cosmos’s influence in the Atlantic Federation... well, wiping it all out was impossible, but at least they could clean out a chunk of it!

Murrue had been resigned to the worst before, but now she finally regained some confidence.

No court-martial!

Murrue might look like a gentle older-sister type, but she was actually only in her twenties.

...Mm, that’s right. She really was not old.

"The refugees have been taken care of. Once we reach the surface, the injured can be sent for medical treatment immediately."

The other Archangel personnel had arrived on the bridge as well.

"It’s finally... almost over."

Murrue let out a long breath.

It was finally almost over.

[We’re screwed]

[You just had to raise that FLAG]

[We’re so dead, we’re so dead]

[The only question is what creative way they’re going to die]

[Feels like ZAFT is going to attack]

[I don’t think so]

[More likely the headquarters gets attacked]

[At that point the Archangel might as well rename itself the Disaster Star]

"Begin descent attitude adjustment."

As the Archangel approached Earth, it began changing its attitude in preparation for atmospheric entry.

Up until now, everything had gone perfectly.

The Archangel began its descent procedure.

"Correcting trajectory, descent angle six..."

"Descent procedure, phase one... ten minutes to the atmospheric entry interface..."

They were about to return to base, and everyone finally relaxed.

"Phase three—two minutes to the entry critical point! Prepare to disperse ablative gel!"

Neumann continued guiding the Archangel downward in a calm and orderly manner.

The temporary bridge was preparing to enter the final stage of the descent procedure.

"Phase three! Disperse ablative gel!"

The Archangel began to shake.

"This ship is entering the atmosphere!"

"Heat source approaching...?"

But at that exact moment, the system suddenly displayed an alert.

"A heat source? Now? From the surface?" Murrue was puzzled.

Was something coming from the ground?

But they were not on a spaceport trajectory.

"At this point, could it be a shuttle launch gone wrong?" Mu muttered. "It can’t be an attack aimed at us, can it?"

"No IFF response," Badgiruel said.

"At least it isn’t ZAFT," Murrue said.

"Wait, something’s wrong!" Mu was the first to sense it. "Those are missiles?! Incoming attack!"

"Leave it to me!"

Mu suddenly thought of something, then struck a key and shut off IFF identification.

In an instant, more than a dozen red dots appeared on the radar.

"What?!"

Murrue was completely stunned.

Mu had already guessed what was happening. "...Songstress-san said it before, didn’t she? Blue Cosmos has probably already obtained the Archangel’s data."

Not only had they obtained it, they had tampered with it too.

For example... using a special signal to make their own units appear "invisible" on the Archangel’s radar.

—You have got to be kidding me.

If the Archangel went to Alaska now, would that not be walking straight into the lion’s den?

And as it happened, Blue Cosmos in Alaska did not want the Archangel to arrive safely either.

"Anti-air fire!" Murrue immediately tried to activate the ship’s anti-air defenses.

"We can’t! We’ve already been captured by gravity. We can’t mount an effective defense!" Sweat poured down Badgiruel’s face.

The Archangel could no longer escape the gravity well.

Under normal circumstances, those missiles might severely damage the Archangel, but they certainly would not sink it.

But the Archangel had already entered the atmosphere.

Forget missiles—even colliding with something could be fatal now.

They really were finished.

At that moment, Neumann was silent for a beat. "Captain, we can still evade."

"How?!"

"Those missiles were probably launched from a spaceport. They’ll keep tracking us even if we move, but once we dodge them, they won’t be able to climb back above us and pursue. So I can perform a... barrel-roll maneuver!"

"Eh?!"

Everyone aboard the Archangel was stunned.

A barrel roll—a fighter maneuver where the aircraft rolled over.

But the Archangel was in the middle of atmospheric descent. A maneuver like that could kill them!

"The Archangel is strong enough, and we have AI assistance!" Neumann said.

"I’m leaving it to you, Neumann!" Murrue immediately opened the shipwide broadcast. "Secure yourselves! Now!"

There was no time to explain. They could not worry about the wounded, or even the people who had not yet found somewhere to strap themselves down.

Otherwise, everyone aboard the Archangel would die!

Badgiruel continued doing her duty and monitoring the approach. "Visual range!"

A Fyu-Neru camera had already captured the missiles.

Even Neumann’s hands were shaking.

"Now!"

The Archangel rolled violently, its nose swinging upward as the hull let out a thunderous roar.

The Archangel’s lower hull was coated in ablative gel for descent, but the upper side was not!

However, the Archangel used Laminated Armor and had an anti-beam design that mitigated beam damage through controlled vaporization of its surface.

Brief atmospheric friction during descent would not be a problem.

After a rapid chain of barrel rolls, the Archangel finally avoided every incoming missile.

But the Archangel’s outer armor and entire structure seemed to be creaking and groaning.

Still, they were finally safe... for the moment.